In politics, voters understand disagreement. What they should never have to accept is hypocrisy.
On March 10, I joined my fellow candidates in this congressional race in vowing to reject super PAC money. It was an easy commitment to make. Progressives across the country have spent years arguing that unlimited outside spending distorts democracy, empowers wealthy interests, and undermines trust in government. Leaders like Bernie Sanders have built movements around the idea that we cannot reform government without confronting the influence of big money and overturning Citizens United.
That principle shouldn’t disappear the moment an election becomes competitive.
Yet here we are.
Today, I’m the only candidate in this race who is not being supported by a super PAC.
My opponents have reversed course. They are benefiting from outside spending and using red-boxing tactics that signal to outside groups how to support their campaigns. One candidate is receiving support from a super PAC tied to a billionaire donor who has also funded far-right candidates, including Marjorie Taylor Greene.
If you believe billionaires and outside groups are warping democracy, then that belief cannot come with exceptions. You cannot campaign against concentrated political influence and then benefit from it when it arrives on your side. You cannot tell voters that special interests are the problem while allowing wealthy donors to become the loudest voices in the race.
Progressive values cannot become optional when the stakes get higher.
I rejected super PAC support because independence matters. When no one owns your campaign, no one owns your agenda.
That has shaped every decision I’ve made serving on the City Council.
Over the last four years, I’ve focused less on ideological branding and more on delivering tangible results that lower costs and improve quality of life for working families.
That work starts with affordability.
I led negotiations on OneLIC, the largest neighborhood rezoning approved in New York in more than two decades after multiple previous attempts failed. The final agreement will create more than 15,000 homes, including 4,300 permanently affordable units, while securing major investments in public infrastructure and long-overdue repairs for Queensbridge Houses.
For residents, that means new housing supply, affordable units families can actually access, safer streets, and public housing improvements that communities had waited decades to receive.
I also launched free internet access for public housing residents in my district through what became Big Apple Connect, helping close a digital divide that punished low-income New Yorkers simply for being unable to afford connectivity. Today, thousands of NYCHA residents benefit from that program citywide.
And I advanced protections for immigrant communities, including legislation targeting notario fraud and expanding access to immigration legal services, because families trying to build a future in this city should not become targets for exploitation.
Those achievements are proof that government can still solve problems when elected officials are focused on outcomes instead of political theater.
That’s why this conversation about super PAC money matters.
If candidates abandon their principles before they even reach Congress, voters have every right to ask what happens once they get there.
New Yorkers deserve representatives who mean what they say and govern the way they campaign.
This election offers a clear contrast.
You can support candidates who promised to reject big money and later decided there was an exception.
Or you can support a campaign built the harder way. One that’s independent of billionaire-funded outside groups, and grounded in a record of actually delivering for the people we serve.
I’ve made my choice.
On June 23, I am asking for your vote.
Won is running in the Democratic primary for the 7th congressional district covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens.